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Californian engineering and irrigation companies enter partnership

Andros Engineering, the California based company that manufactures the single use drip tape recycling system, has partnered with RDO Water to expand on their current offering. The company supplies the machinery to collect the drip tape and haul it off for recycling. They have noted that, with increasing labor costs, particularly in California, growers can save time and money by utilizing the system.

"While the use of drip tape is a common for growers with drip irrigation systems, the idea of single-use drip tape isn’t," said Matt Andros, of Andros Engineering. "Growers are known to re-use drip tape at least a few seasons, even up to seven to eight times. However, the drawbacks of reusing drip tape are the ever-growing labor laws and labor shortages, especially in California."

The partnership with RDO Water

With Andros Engineering manufacturing and supplying the Mega Binder system, which rolls up the single use tape, they wanted to expand options for the growers in California that want to use the system. By partnering with RDO Water, the company said the use of the system has become even easier.

"Andros Engineering is working in partnership with RDO Water to bring the benefits of single-use drip tape to growers in California’s central coast and desert southwest regions through a new, unique service," Andros said. "Using tractors with specially-designed lift bars, RDO Water’s team lifts the drip tape at the end of the season. The RDO Water crew then uses the Andros Engineering Mega-Binder to roll up the tape, efficiently and neatly. The service includes haul-away and recycling of the tape, too – growers no longer need to store and repair the tape for use the following season, or coordinate disposal. Taking advantage of single-use drip tape and the drip tape retrieval service from RDO Water is more efficient and puts less hassle on growers."

Andros said the original idea behind the drip tape recycling program was to save growers money with water costs. Now they are making it easier to deal with the drip tape with the aim of saving costs further. "The combination also combats the labor pinch in numerous ways, from time saved during installation and retrieval, as well as initial pre-season and ongoing in season monitoring and repair of reused drip tape," Andros stated. "After only one year of offering the service, RDO Water says customers have already realized the benefits of labor savings, as well as found value in other areas. Additional benefits of single-use drip tape include reduced water use for flushing and leaks, improved food safety, and eliminating off-season drip tape storage."

Top 10 New Product Award

Andros Engineering will be attending the 2018 World Agricultural Expo in Tulare. At the event, they will be officially launching the MegaBinder system as well as be displaying a number of other sizes for the unit. Additionally, they are very proud that it has been selected as one of the Top 10 new products at this year's expo.

"Andros Engineering’s MegaBinder has been selected as one of the Top Ten Best New Products of 2018," Andros exclaimed. "This product line will be officially introduced at the World Agricultural Expo in Tulare California, on Feb 13-15. There will be several units displayed from small to large, and will also feature additional new products that save labor cost, and time. During the Expo, Andros will introduce new regional and global partners that will assist with purchases and recycling services."

At the show, the company will be recognized in show materials as well as in the official guide. Andros is very proud of this achievement and they say it is testament to their innovation and dedication to bring this technology to grower. "We believe that the latest technology of 'Single use Dripline' and our MegaBinder collection platform has contributed to a shift in irrigation practices on the Central Coast," Andros observed. "This model improves crop uniformity while effectively reducing high labor cost. This award demonstrates our commitment to continually improve irrigation technology for growers."